Ordinary Mexican hen lays green eggs

An ordinary-looking hen with
brown feathers has cause quite a stir in Cuautitlan, a small village north of
Mexico City, because every day she lays an egg with a green
shell!

According to the hen's
owner, Elvira Romero, who is a housewife who got the hen as part of a government
aid package to help villagers, the hen looks just like any other in the yard,
however, the owner says that since 5 December she has been laying green
eggs.

So far, there is no explanation for the colour
of the eggs, even though the chicken is fed exactly the same as the others -
corn, tortillas and chicken feed. "Well, my children say 'Oh Mummy, God
looks favourably on you so that you were given as a prize a chicken that lays
green eggs'," said Romero with a smile.

Scientists believe that
shell colour - which does not affect the colour or flavour of the yolk or white
- is determined by the genes, and say blue or green shells are frequently found
in the Araucana chicken strain.